The Rise and Fall of Antibiotics

They started out packing a punch, but antibiotics are not invincible.

1867

English surgeon Joseph Lister describes his use of carbolic acid as an antiseptic during surgery, eradicating microbes and preventing infection.

1876

German physician Robert Koch publishes work proving that bacteria cause disease, with anthrax bacilli as Exhibit A; Koch’s four postulates for determining the cause of new microbial diseases are still used today.

Bettmann/Corbis

1928

Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming finds that a Penicillium notatum mold growing on a lab plate full of Staphylococcus kills the bacteria around it. He names the active substance penicillin, but because it’s so difficult to purify large amounts, he drops the research.

1932

In a lab at Bayer in Germany, Gerhard Domagk discovers that a sulfa drug, later called Prontosil, defeats streptococci in mice and is later found to work in humans.

Dennis Kunkel/Phototake

1939

French microbiologist Rene Dubos discovers gramicidin in soil, ultimately the primary source of many antibiotics; Oxford scientists Howard Florey and Ernst Chain figure out how to produce substantial quantities of penicillin, leading to its industrial production.

Frans Lanting/Corbis

1944-68

Most major classes of antibiotics, including the aminoglycosides, cephalosporins and tetracyclines, are introduced.

2000

After a number of years, the FDA approves a new class of antibiotics, oxazolidinones, for clinical use.